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Trailer battery not charging


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Just towed my trailer for the first time and when I hooked up the 7 pin harness I had no power going to my electric tongue jack. I found the fuse in #2 trailer battery to be blown but when I replaced it nothing changes. I've seen other posts on older trucks refer to studs at the fuse block where the brake and battery wires should be connected but i don't see them on this truck. Can anyone help me out?

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Unlike my 08, my 18 came from the factory with the +12v pin on the 7way plug hot already. Look up the pinout for a 7way plug and use a multimeter or test light to see if you've even got power at the plug.

 

Is the deep cycle battery in the RV good? If it's toast, it will suck all the amps that the plug can provide leaving nothing for the jack. The jack should be running off the RV house battery in the first place, not directly off the plug. You shouldn't even need to plug in to use the jack.

 

EDIT: just realized it may not be an RV. A trailer big enough to need an electric jack likely has electric brakes. If so it should have a battery and a breakaway system to energize the brakes in the event of the trailer coming off the hitch.

Edited by dkjbama
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Yes my 2017 came with 12v pin hot too so as said check rhe plug with a meter.  The 12v hot is not heavy guage  a wire so won't recharge a dead or low bat  really just a maintenance charge 

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1 hour ago, dkjbama said:

Unlike my 08, my 18 came from the factory with the +12v pin on the 7way plug hot already. Look up the pinout for a 7way plug and use a multimeter or test light to see if you've even got power at the plug.

 

Is the deep cycle battery in the RV good? If it's toast, it will suck all the amps that the plug can provide leaving nothing for the jack. The jack should be running off the RV house battery in the first place, not directly off the plug. You shouldn't even need to plug in to use the jack.

 

EDIT: just realized it may not be an RV. A trailer big enough to need an electric jack likely has electric brakes. If so it should have a battery and a breakaway system to energize the brakes in the event of the trailer coming off the hitch.

It is a RV. Just had the battery tested at O'Reilly it was bad, so I bought a new one. What is puzzling me is that the battery was bad last year too but I was still able to use the electric jack once I hooked up to my previous truck, a '07 Chevy 1500 w/t. I'll get my meter out and test the plug but I doubt I'm getting anything there. I tried it with my test light on the pin that showed (+) but maybe I didn't have a good ground on the test light. 

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Do you remove your battery and keep it topped up all winter?  If it stays in the TT the propane/carbon monoxide  detector will drain a battery in under a week.  Dealer told us to pull the fuse And that will get you a few more days. Best to disconnect the battery between uses and pull it out and keep it inside and tended over winter. 

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15 minutes ago, 15slvrDbl said:

Do you remove your battery and keep it topped up all winter?  If it stays in the TT the propane/carbon monoxide  detector will drain a battery in under a week.  Dealer told us to pull the fuse And that will get you a few more days. Best to disconnect the battery between uses and pull it out and keep it inside and tended over winter. 

We got it used from an individual last summer. We used it once and parked it. With the new battery I'm either gonna disconnect it or keep the TT plugged in at home. I'm a newbie with this so everything is still a learning process. 

I'm hoping to fix the power to the TT battery so it'll keep a small charge going to it while traveling.

Edited by Ranger36
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3 hours ago, dkjbama said:

Unlike my 08, my 18 came from the factory with the +12v pin on the 7way plug hot already. Look up the pinout for a 7way plug and use a multimeter or test light to see if you've even got power at the plug.

 

Is the deep cycle battery in the RV good? If it's toast, it will suck all the amps that the plug can provide leaving nothing for the jack. The jack should be running off the RV house battery in the first place, not directly off the plug. You shouldn't even need to plug in to use the jack.

 

EDIT: just realized it may not be an RV. A trailer big enough to need an electric jack likely has electric brakes. If so it should have a battery and a breakaway system to energize the brakes in the event of the trailer coming off the hitch.

It is a RV. Just had the battery tested at O'Reilly it was bad, so I bought a new one. What is puzzling me is that the battery was bad last year too but I was still able to use the electric jack once I hooked up to my previous truck, a '07 Chevy 1500 w/t. I'll get my meter out and test the plug but I doubt I'm getting anything there. I tried it with my test light on the pin that showed (+) but maybe I didn't have a good ground on the test light. 

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No power at the plug on the terminal labeled (+). I checked all the terminals to be sure I had a good ground and I have power on L turn, R turn, parking lights , brake. I ever swapped out a different fuse that I knew was good. Power had to be going to the plug at some point cos the original fuse was blown, unless the original owner swapped then around. Only other fuse in there that is identical is the trailer brake fuse. 

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Do other 12v items in the trailer work? Are we sure the jack still works. Maybe turn the truck around and run jumper cables from the truck batt to the trailer house batt the try the jack. If it doesn't work then, then you know you've either got a problem with the jack or it's connection to the trailer battery.

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I would think the trailer would have an onboard charger wired to the 120v shore power. If so, make sure it works and keep the trailer plugged in. Just don't forget to keep the trailer deep cycle battery topped up with DISTILLED water.

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25 minutes ago, dkjbama said:

I would think the trailer would have an onboard charger wired to the 120v shore power. If so, make sure it works and keep the trailer plugged in. Just don't forget to keep the trailer deep cycle battery topped up with DISTILLED water.

Yes the trailer has an inverter/ charger. I checked it earlier, it's got 13v going to the battery while plugged into shore power. Only thing I can think of at this point is a break in the wire somewhere between the fuse block and the trailer plug. Will try to locate it tomorrow. 

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Be aware of the RVC system..

 

 

Camper/Trailer Battery Charging Concerns

Some customers may comment that when towing or hauling a camper/trailer, the auxiliary battery for the camper/trailer will not stay charged. In most cases, this concern is blamed on the new RVC system. While the RVC system does reduce the generator's targeted output voltage to 12.6-13.1 volts when in "Fuel Economy Mode", this feature is bypassed if the tow/haul feature is enabled. With the tow/haul feature enabled, the RVC system will stay in "Charge Mode" and the targeted generator output voltage will be 13.9-15.5 volts, depending on the battery state of charge and the estimated battery temperature. To keep the generator in the "Charge Mode", use either of the following two methods.

 

*The first method is to use the tow/haul mode when towing or hauling a camper or trailer.

 

*The second method is to turn on the headlights, which will increase the generator's targeted output voltage to 13.9-14.5 volts.

Edited by elcamino
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Also, don't forget to eliminate the simple stuff first.  On my brand new 2018 travel trailer my jack worked intermittently and on my second trip pre-check my left signal light didn't work.  Some WD 40 in the trailer jack fuse holder fixed the jack and WD 40 in the plug connecting the trailer to the truck fixed the signal. 

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